Shuguang 6V6's-Any Good?

[Cygnus X1]

Crazy cheap.
Anyone tried them out?

[billyz]

I have not tried them as I have not had good luck with most chinese tubes, they seem to fail pretty dramatically. Seems the guys selling them give everything they sell a glowing review though. Please keep us informed after you have used them a while, if they hold up and the sound quality. Are these the TAD 6v6gtb ? I see them for $39 a pair, not that cheap in my book.

[Cygnus X1]

I don't think they are TAD.
They are available at Ted Weber's site:

https://taweber.powweb.com/store/tubeord.htm

[Phil_S]

I suggest it will be cheaper in the long run if you buy your glass from someone who has a proper test rig, knows how to use it, and burns them in before selling to customers. There are a number of reputable tube sellers. These guys usually build their own test rigs so they can put the tube through it's paces at typical operating conditions. It also gives reasonable assurance that what they call "matched" really is matched. You get what you pay for.

You might get lucky, but I think the risk does not outweigh the reward. You know the old saw, "if it looks too good to be true, it is." Just my 2 cents.

[sliberty]

I have had really good luck with the NOS and even lightly used 6V6's I have gotten on eBay. They tend to be much cheaper than $39 a pair, and sound fantastic. I have had some come in with cracked bases, but even those have been usable and sound really good. The only issue left is matching. FOr that, I'd recommend buying more than you need, and matching them yourself. If you have a Compu-Bias or some other similar tools, you can do this very easily. But even if all you have is a DMM, you can still find a pair that matches closely enough to sound great.

[Cygnus X1]

I have a Hickok 6000A.
I'm just running short of 6V6's at the moment.

I'd hate to put anything like this into an amp that I would sell.

[Phil_S]

I have had really good luck with the NOS and even lightly used 6V6's I have gotten on eBay. They tend to be much cheaper...

I was not willing to admit that I also buy tubes on eBay and have done OK. Steve, if you can own up to it, I can too!

I have a rule of thumb, which is that I keep my expectations very, very low. In fact, when I buy on eBay, I only spend what I feel I could just throw out the window and not get upset. There are some sellers who have established a reputation on eBay and for whom I might be willing to break that rule, but not in excess. I don't buy silly expensive tubes there. I think the most I've ever paid for an eBay tube is around $10-$12, and this includes shipping.

IMO, once you start to approach about 2/3 of dealer prices, the incentive to go to a tube dealer rises very quickly.

[gearhead]

The JJ 6V6 tubes I have are pretty bang up good, but am not a 6V6 Connoisseur. I bought them because of others who are said there are the best production 6V6s out there (as of a year+ ago).

[KT66]

+1 on the JJs. The new issue Tung Sol I tried had a sweet sound to it that I liked very much also. I hear the EH is no slouch either, so I say why bother with the Shaguangs just to save a few bucks?

[billyz]

OK, you guys buying the 6v6 RCA's and Tungsols off of EBAY Stop it NOW! I will only have to pay more for them.

[Cygnus X1]

I will get a set of JJ 6V6's for the old Deluxe Reverb.
Eventually.

As of now it is running a set of "FoMoCo" labeled 6V6's which seem to be just fine.
Stop sign logo, who made that?
Sylvania perhaps?

Along with a fresh 5AR4.
That Telefunken has 42 years on it, time to start hunting around.

[tubeswell]

+1 on the JJs. The new issue Tung Sol I tried had a sweet sound to it that I liked very much also. I hear the EH is no slouch either, so I say why bother with the Shaguangs just to save a few bucks?

FWIW I tried the new-sensor 'tung-sol' RIs (6V6GT) in a 5G9 clone I made last year. That amp is fixed bias has a bias-vary trem (which tends to run the tubes hotter when its switched on), and after 9 months, the tubes started with that tell-tale sign of hissing and crackling. When I looked at the tubes up-close, I noticed that the coating on the plates looked as if it had started to bubble a bit, and then I noticed how skimpy the screen support rods were compared to the JJ6V6s, so I went to using JJ6V6s in that amp.

Not that the 'tung-sol' RIs didn't sound sweet for a while, and in the right amp (i.e. one that doesn't use bias-vary trem) they might last for quite a while. I gather the 6V6GTA version is their tube is rated for 14W, altho' I haven't seen any around this neck of the woods.

I've never tried the EH6V6s, but I haven't heard much good about their durability

[billyz]

Cygnus X1

What is the 3 digit number on your Fomoco tubes? I had a pair that were CBS made, 188. Pretty good too.

[Cygnus X1]

Cygnus X1

What is the 3 digit number on your Fomoco tubes? I had a pair that were CBS made, 188. Pretty good too.

I'm afraid to look.
This amp gets schizo on me.

When it's great, it's awesome.
When it decides it's in a bad mood, it's like it is posessed, in a bad way.

Right now it is in "awesome" mode.
When it goes PMS on me I'll take a look.